Best Advice?

rach29

Can anyone advise me/my daughter on her situation please?

She has had offers from her two top choice Uni's Both offers are the same and she will definitely achieve the requirements. She is struggling to decide between them and here is where your advice is required

Uni 1 - University of Wales Newport. Fabulous facilities for her course Performimg Arts, beautiful accomodation, Newport town is close by, and Cardiff is a short hop. We live in London so she is used to quite a Cosmopolitan life

Uni 2 - MMU Crewe Campus. Nice facilities but a very small campus. Doesn't appear to be a lot going on in Crewe and Manchester is 40 miles away.

I have always been of the opinion that one should choose the best course over any other thing such as facilities etc, but. We are not in a position to support her much financially (she will get student loans etc) and she will almost certainly need to work part time. Newport would seem to offer more opportunity in this regard, but she is leaning towards the course at MMU.

We are both concerned that the Nightlife etc at Crewe may be a bit tame by her standards, but then you don't go to Uni just for the nightlife

Any advice, insights??

Lokolo

I am from Stafford, which is more or less the same as MMU Crewe, not much night life etc.....

Course + facilities > entertainment.

Uni is primarily for getting a degree, not for getting rat faced every Friday.

However saying that, Carnage in Hanley (Stoke on Trent) brings together MMU, Staffordshire University and Keele University. This happens once a semester and is quite an event!

The_One_Who

Has she visited both places? Sometimes it can be more about a 'vibe' than anything else. Personally, I'd always advise prospective students to visit on a normal university day, as well as a specific visit day. That way they can see how busy places are and what living and working there will actually be like.

Course and facilities should come first, but living in a place you dislike for three years can hamper your degree. Make sure she looks at things like library facilities, gym/sports facilities if she'll use them, clubs & societies on offer, student support services, etc. Those can be very different.

rach29

Thanks for the replies folks.

Lokolo, it's not so much the getting rat faced she's after. She's very much into emerging bands & new music, also fringe & contemporary theatre etc all of which is widely available here

The One Who - she has visited both places but didn't get to spend much time at MMU. She got to spend a weekend at Newport (she has a friend there) and stayed in the halls etc, Newport was definitely first choice before she visited MMU and saw more of the course there.

Person_one

Is the course at MMU only at the Crewe campus and not available at Manchester?

If she's after nightlife, I think she'd need to speak to current students of both. Sometimes the students create little hubs for themselves and have a great time even though the town they're in isn't necessarily party central. Try Thestudentroom.co.uk forums, full of students!

I agree that the course is the most important thing, but social life, bonding with all sorts of new friends and having your first taste of independence and freedom are also important parts of uni life for many people. Especially now that so many graduates end up back home for years afterwards!

New_York_No1_fan

rach29 wrote: »

Can anyone advise me/my daughter on her situation please?

She has had offers from her two top choice Uni's Both offers are the same and she will definitely achieve the requirements. She is struggling to decide between them and here is where your advice is required

Uni 1 - University of Wales Newport. Fabulous facilities for her course Performimg Arts, beautiful accomodation, Newport town is close by, and Cardiff is a short hop. We live in London so she is used to quite a Cosmopolitan life

Uni 2 - MMU Crewe Campus. Nice facilities but a very small campus. Doesn't appear to be a lot going on in Crewe and Manchester is 40 miles away.

I have always been of the opinion that one should choose the best course over any other thing such as facilities etc, but. We are not in a position to support her much financially (she will get student loans etc) and she will almost certainly need to work part time. Newport would seem to offer more opportunity in this regard, but she is leaning towards the course at MMU.

We are both concerned that the Nightlife etc at Crewe may be a bit tame by her standards, but then you don't go to Uni just for the nightlife

Any advice, insights??

DD, now in her 3rd year at Bath Uni, was very torn btn which uni to choose as her firm. However, she has never for one minute regretted choosing Bath, as in her words, "you've got to feel happy where ever you study and 'partying' (not necessarily to excess) is an important way of making new friends. Although the course should be high on your list of priorities, in her case, the city itself was the defining factor.

Think where you are going to feel more at home, which town has the better facilities. Social life, shopping, transport links etc.

Freshers,1st years, tend to spend most of their social time in the Student Union if living on campus, however once in their 2nd + year, town becomes their nightspot as they usually end up living closer to that area.

I cannot really comment on either of your uni options however Newport does have better transport links. Its only 15 mins on the train to Cardiff (another student city) for a night out similar to the distance bth Bath and Bristol which DD often does for a night out. Taking it on face value, I personally think Crewe will definitely have nightlife restrictions from what you say.

Also on a plus side its only straight along the M4 to Newport and probably quicker than to Crewe.

Oldernotwiser

To be honest, both Newport and Crewe are dumps but they're close to Cardiff and Manchester which both have a lot to offer. Socially, I wouldn't say that there's a lot in it.

Loanranger

I would ask her to find out the 'destinations' info from each course, that is: what jobs or further courses the graduates went into. Also, what % failed to find a job three months after graduating. Ask the careers service for this info, they are required to collect this data from their graduates and it can be be very illuminating. This may help her choose which course is more likely to lead to a job in the field she's interested in.

rach29

Thanks everyone, there's some fantastic ideas and information here. There's a bit of time between now & when she must accept one of them so We'll take all this advice on board and then I guess I'll leave her to make the final choice

BlueC

they are both dumps. what was her 3rd choice?

sukysue

Newport is a dump take it from one who lives 20 miles away it's awful.